Requiem for the soul
by MightyFineStride
Summary: It was the best of times. It was the worse of times. It was the spring of hope and it was the winter of despair. In this new world, a bullet wound can be just as fatal as a bite. Rick soon finds that it's not just the walkers you should be afraid of. Luckily he has company in the form of a crossbow wielding hick on the road ahead. Daryl/Rick slow burn. From season 1 onwards.


Rick Grimes listened half-halfheartedly as his best friend and partner moaned on and on about his new girl. It was strange. For all Shane's moaning about this girl, and all the passion his voice clearly displayed, it never showed in his eyes. They were just dead. It was like he was reciting pre prepared lines or something. It was eerily similar to when a suspect gives a false statement, like the case just last month. They had arrested a man as a suspect for his wife' murder. He had given a elaborate story in his defense and almost everyone had bought it, given there was little evidence against him. Except Rick. He did a little more digging and found crucial evidence that put him away for a long time. It made Rick feel uneasy but of course he didn't let it show on his face. You had to be good at pretending to be fine given all the years married to Lori and being friends with Shane. A nod, a smile, a little laugh could get you through the toughest of situations.

Still Rick listened, giving a occasional comment and chuckle, because regardless as to whether Shane's sermon was false or not, it was still amusing to listen to.

Shane eventually ran out of steam and grew silent. He then turned to Rick, "So how's it with Lori man?"

It took Rick a while to let the question sink in. Lori. Where to start? The indecent texts. The anonymous phone calls. Coming home late at night when she thinks they will be sleeping.

"We're... not okay," Rick admitted reluctantly. There was no point lying to Shane because he would keep pushing until he got the truth out of you.

"I think she is cheating on me," he said, eyebrows furrowed.

Shane nearly jumped out of his seat. He couldn't have been more shocked. "What?!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah."

"How? Why?" he said, looking lost for words.

That was the same question that had been bugging Rick for weeks. He knew they were going through a rough patch at the moment. Well, to be honest a rough couple of years but he never thought she would do this.

"She's anger at me, more than usual over the last couple of months. Speak, she says, speak, like I am the most closed mouthed person ever. And even when I do talk to her, every word I say makes her angry and impatient like it wasn't what she wanted to hear. It's like she's waiting for me to say something wrong so she can have a go at me," he paused to collect himself, "then I found the text messages."

"Hey it could have a wrong number or something," Shane said, trying to sound reassuring.

"Why would she try and hide it though? One I can overlook but this many? Hmm," Rick said, looking at Shane doubtfully, "There's also her going in and out in the early hours of the morning sneakin around. It's not hard to work out."

"Maybe it's one big misunderstanding. You should talk to her. It could be something completely innocent."

"Maybe."

They fell back silent again. This time it was Rick that broke the silence.

"Shane, if I tell you something will you promise not to tell anyone," Rick said hesitantly, looking at his best friend.

"Sure man. Best friends honour," he said, putting his hand up in a parody of the boy scouts salute.

"I'm not sure I love Lori any more," he backtracked at Shane's shocked face, "no, I mean, I still love her but not in the way I did before. I think I will always love her as the mother of my child but not the way before, not like a wife," he admitted, guilt lining his face, as if he was to blame for how he felt.

"Jesus, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was this bad. But still, you should talk to her about how you feel. It may be best for you to, you know, divorce if that is that's how you feel," Shane said in a quiet voice.

"I couldn't do that to Carl. He needs both parents in his life and it's not right if he has to choose between us. Because I know Lori, and I know she won't take us splitting up very maturely. She's too headstrong."

"wha-."

They were interrupted by the buzz of the radio. Another job.

As they raced down the street Rick couldn't help but think he had made some sort of mistake confiding it Shane. It was a niggling gut feeling that Rick had learned to trust in all his years as a cop. It meant trouble.

An east wind is coming, Rick could just feel it.

They passed two crows which were picking the remains of a dead animal. Weren't crows omens of death or something. Rick's uneasy feeling suddenly grew bigger.

An the speed they were going it only took another minute to get to the right road. They set up the spikes and waited for the car to approach. It hit the spikes at such a speed that it went spinning off into the nearby field. He moved in sync with the other cops, guns at the ready. He watched one of the offenders crawl from the upturned car.

"GUN! GUN! GUN!" An officer shouted, seeing the gun in the offenders hand.

"Put the gun down!"Rick ordered, wanting to find a peaceful solution. However it was in vain, as the man shot regardless. The officers had no choice but to shoot back. It quickly turned into a fire fight, another offender with a gun joining him from the passenger side. A stray bullet hit Rick in the chest which caused him to fall to the floor. Shane immediately came to his defence. Soon both men lay dead and bleeding on the grass.

"I'm alright!"Rick shouted, feeling a bit overwhelmed. He thought he was a goner.

Shane came running over, "I saw you get tagged, that's scared the hell out of me."

"Me too," he said, getting up slowly, "that son of a bitch shot me! You believe that?"

"What, it caught you on the vest?"

"Yeah."

What they both didn't see was a third assailant getting out of the vehicle.

"Shane, you do not tell Lori that happened ever," Rick growled, not at Shane but at the situation as a whole. Behind him the assailant was aiming up his shot, "You understand?" he said, but never got to answer as the bullet ripped through the flesh from the gap in his vest. No words could describe the pain that ripped through him. It felt as if a hole had been ripped in his chest. Rick could faintly hear Shane firing at the other person beyond the ringing of his ears and then sharp overwhelming pain Shane pressed on the wound. His vision blurred. He could hear Shane yelling but was too far gone to understand what he was saying.

His eyes rolled back in his skull, and his vision went black. Before he was completely unconscious, Rick swore he heard something. The caw of a crow.

* * *

><p>Hello there. I hope you enjoyed this little taster.<p>

Did anyone else think it was cool that they added the crows in the first episode before everything went to shit? Cause I did.

It got even cooler when I researched superstition surrounding crows.

Crow is the epitome of all messengers. Some older superstitions carry the belief that the visit and call of the crow is an omen of impending death, both literally and figuratively. Crow Spirit delves deeply into the Void, look at your past present and future, in order to bring word of what may be needed in order to bring balance in your life. Crow's colour reminds us that things are never just black and white. Within their present black colour lie all the other colours of the spectrum. Black is the colour associated with creation. It is the Void in which all new things are birthed. It is pure potential awaiting the spark of thought. people in tune with the crow may find themselves pushed to seek out and bring back harmony, balance and justice to their world, and will be urged to unleash their unlimited creativity. In the act of creation, though, some outdated habits and things that are no longer useful may demand change and transformation. Crow is the Totem of Destiny.

P.s. Did you catch the Conan Doyle east wind reference? For those of you who have never come across this reference before, Google it. It'll be awesome. Wink wink.


End file.
